The Classmate's Poison

What actually happened

Han Fei and Li Si had studied under the same master, Xunzi. Han Fei, a stammering aristocrat ignored at home, poured everything into essays the young king of Qin devoured. When Han Fei arrived as an envoy, Li Si, whether from rivalry, policy, or both, persuaded the king he was a risk, jailed him, and sent poison before the king could change his mind.

The king did change his mind; the pardon arrived after the poison. Sima Qian, writing much later, frames Li Si's motive as jealousy of a superior talent. The episode attributes that framing while noting Li Si was already the most powerful minister in Qin.

Li Si's own end, years later, was execution by a court intrigue of exactly the kind Han Fei had catalogued.

The play to remember

Writing the rulebook of power doesn't exempt you from it. The book's first lesson, that the ruler's ear is a killing ground, killed its author.